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Growing Up Baseball

Bullinger began playing baseball just across the highway from the Zephyrs ballpark, at Mike Miley Playground, when he was six years old. The park was named, aptly, after another local sports hero who played at LSU and who did a stint in the minors with the Angels organization.

He played in every developing league, from Dixie Youth to Babe Ruth.

Kirk follows brother Jim, who played for the Cubs, Expos and Mariners. Both started as infielders, and wound up being converted to pitchers. "The baseball blood runs pretty deep," says Kirk. "We had a cousin [Matt] who was pitching in the Mets organization when Doc Gooden was in AAA. They won a AAA championship at Tidewater in 1984."

Coming Home Means Being At Home

For Bullinger, coming home means being at home during the season with his wife of seven-and-a-half years, Melissa. "It makes it nice. We don't have to worry about having a home here and an apartment in North Carolina."

It's also nice to be where he has his own fan club. His mother, Joy, comes to every game, sporting a 70-2 attendance to absence score last season, one of the highest of a parent in the minors. "My father [Jim] passed away before I got a chance to be here. That was one reason I wanted to play here, because he hadn't got a chance to see me play much in pro ball."

Kirk's father was not a happy flyer. He did get to see his son's major league debut season when the Expos went to St. Louis in 1998 (He drove to get there.).

Melissa comes to almost as many. And his friends and relatives show up to wish him well. "Playing at home, having support from your family and friends, that have seen you play growing up, at the playgrounds, at the high school level, and I didn't go to college very far from here, is really great."

In the off-season, Kirk umpires adult softball for fun and a little money. He plays winter ball as he thinks that he needs to keep up his skills and work on securing a spot for the following season.

He and his wife are both sports junkies. Melissa also played baseball and basketball in college.

He used to be an avid golfer, but the back injury prevents him from playing. In the off-season he hits the Hornets and screams at the Saints.

What Makes Bully Major League Material?

In baseball, there are two distinct religions these days: Baseball Scientists, and Fundamentalists. The scientists use every tool to tweak up arms, keep pitchers from getting tired, and develop arms that can hurl hard enough to make an offering before the almighty machine of baseball, the radar gun.

Those who are of the Fundamentalist school see it differently. While a 98 mph fastball is certainly nothing to sneeze at, placement, control, and a variety of pitches that get guys out are more impressive than high-heat and, too-often, equally high ERAs.

Bullinger is pitching dream for a fundamentalist.

Think Bigs.

Many players who've spent a decade banging around the minors might get discouraged, or become "realistic" about how much hope they should hold out of seeing time in the majors. Bullinger has been there before, and, combinations of his record, his maturity, and some experience with the majors makes him believe that there is a place for him with the Astros.

"The things that I've done here in New Orleans, I don't think I could do much better. Typically before I'd been with the Astros I'd been a set-up guy, and a closer. Last year, when I got here, we had a pretty solid closer in Jim Mann. They didn't really need me in that role."

The Zephyrs have used Bullinger primarily in middle-relief assignments, one start this season, and in apparances in the closer's role. All of which he has handled well.

While Bullinger recognizes that he is not a major league closer, he does recognize that closers get either more heat or accolades, and, more importantly, saves on their record. This is where the veteran status makes him a student of the only radar he has some respect for: That of scouts, coaches, and the player development personnel of the Astros.

"As unfair as it is, that's just the way it is. When somebody looks in the saves column, and they see eighteen, twenty, thirty saves, that's going to catch your eye. As opposed to a middle reliever, who has a 2.0 ERA, and no saves. They don't even look at him. You can look up and down every all star roster. You see starter, starter, starter, two or three closers, and that's it. If I'm not going to be a starter, the next best place [in this league] is to be a closer."

Bullinger also knows that heat is the thing that is being evaluated in the move up. A point which he respectfully disagrees with.

"The only thing I can do [different or better] is throw harder. I think that's been the sticking point for me. A lot of emphasis is put on the radar gun. To me, it's very over-rated. That's a biased opinion because I don't throw 90 mph, but, Greg Maddux didn't throw 90mph for many years and he's a pretty good pitcher. He gets guys out."

"To me, the bottom line is getting guys out. Pitching is keeping hitters off balance. It's mixing up their timing, because hitting is timing. If I can offset their timing, I'm going to win."

"So I don't think I need to do anything different. At this point in my career I'm not going to pick up another three or four miles an hour on my fastball. So what I concentrate on every day is throwing strikes, spotting pitches, changing speeds, and making sure that all of my pitches are sharp."

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